- So. Can you please repeat it again? – Klein said, clutching his head. “But for some reason I heard that you had agreed on something with... well, like, the most terrible and powerful monsters in the world?” Did you tell the whole world about your great victory?
Arthur remained silent heavily, looking bitterly at the young man. Klein took a few steps back, looking at the lich and paladin in shock.
- So you... You're in this together!?
- What!? – Arthur exclaimed in rage. – How could you think such a thing!? Ehh, damn it, I hoped that this day would come after my death... Listen, Klein... Then, fifty-eight years ago, we really fought against all the Overlords at once. The original idea was to attack two Overlords fighting each other and finish them off while they were weakened. But we weren’t the only ones who planned this. Everyone else also watched this battle, and now, after a while, it grew into an all-out war... By that time, we had already killed two Overlords, and there were fifteen of them left. We wouldn't last a second if they all turned against us.
- But... How did it all happen then?
- We hate each other, baby. – Askeltak answered. – I mean, we, the Overlords. Although, hatred is not the right word... I have friends who are Overlords. It's great when someone understands you. However, if they show even a hint of weakness, I will kill them without the slightest doubt.
- For what!?
- Knowledge, baby. Force. Experience. We embody the peak of individual power that a single living being can achieve. Do you have any idea how many artifacts, money, unique spells we have, and how many levels you can raise by failing someone like me!? – The lich finished not without pride.
Klein swallowed. He had no idea, but he suspected it was a lot. Very. Very. So many. The master abbot meanwhile continued the story:
- We survived only because we skillfully maneuvered between the fighting monsters, periodically weakening one of them. When this happened, the others attacked him like a pack of hungry piranhas. However, this does not mean that no one touched us... I had a dozen comrades... And by the end of the battle there were only five of us left. And four Overlords. We were all exhausted. And everyone understood that as soon as someone became even a little weaker than the others, others would finish him off. The five of us... We couldn't defeat any of these monsters... But if even one of them attacked us, we could injure him, and he would be devoured by the other Overlords. And my friend... Bard. Offered a way out... A comprehensive agreement...
- And what is it? – Klein asked carefully.
- The fact is that we are moving apart. Nobody kills anyone. And... Neither side is taking any active action. Does not hunt purposefully, does not destroy cities or monster nests. Doesn't do anything to level up other than training. We agreed on this.
Arthur looked defeated. He was reliving the worst moment of his life. And after that, he lied to everyone around him for more than half a century. Even the closest people. No one should have known about this shame. Klein looked at his master, and for the first time noticed that he had become so old and weak... He asked:
- But why?.. I understand, no one wants to die, but why lie?..
The old man looked up at him with sad eyes and answered:
- I was ready to die that day. - Like every day before and after... I am ready to give my life without hesitation to kill these creatures. But... Then we couldn't kill them all. And in the best case scenario, one would survive. Can you imagine how much stronger he would become? And there would be no one to stop him... And reluctantly, I agreed with my friend’s proposal... I was ready to do any vile thing, just so that you wouldn’t have to live the way I lived...
- So all this time you have been preparing me and the others for what will happen after... After. And it turns out you weren’t wounded then! - The young man realized. – And you refused the king’s offers because of the terms of the contract!?
- Yes. Our agreement was not sealed by any magic. We couldn't trust each other and the difference in power was too great. Anyone can violate it without suffering losses. But if I did at least something that could be regarded as a violation of the agreement, then the surviving Overlords would also make their move... Like now! – The old paladin was filled with strength again, straightening up and looking at the lich with fury. - You! Unnameable! I broke the contract by catching my pupil! You're upsetting the balance of power, and as Klein told me, you've leveled up! And at your stage it is no longer possible to do this with training alone!
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- What? – Askeltak choked on his tea, coughing theatrically. He continued in an indignant tone. – Are you accusing me of breaking my promise!? I, so you know, am a dead man of honor! I never break my word! Firstly, nothing was said about students in that agreement! And I didn’t kill him, why are you complaining, I’m actually just teaching him mathematics and theology, so you know. I'm doing your job!
- I can do my job myself, scum!
- Yeah, of course, I saw it. Your student didn’t know a damn thing until he came to me. All you have to do is wave a piece of iron and beg miracles from your god. So, the level is called economics, my dear Artie. I have students. They own their dungeons, and kill adventurers who wander into them, and send part of the energy of their souls to me, and I already condense it into experience and levels. True, this is not nearly as effective as destroying cities or countries... And mind you! I'm not even telling them to attack you themselves! I could. But hey, I don't want to ruin my vacation and my image. Honor must be preserved from a young age, so you know!
- Ha! Honor! What do you even know about honor, monster!? Damned Unnameable, should I remind you about the German Principalities!?
- Hey, it was a fair fight. And anyway, why don't you call me by name? I'm so sad about this...
- Indeed, I wonder why. – Arthur said sarcastically, in rage he looked younger and more unrestrained with every word. - Maybe because you put a spell on your name, receiving information every time someone calls it?
- Oh, that's true. And I forgot. By the way, I learned this from one of my friends. He did the same with his name. I had to spend a lot of time deciphering this spell and copying it! Although you know him too, don’t you? I'm talking about our friend Tog'Malise.
At these words, Arthur turned pale, hastily turning to his student, using one miracle after another on him:
- [Protection from Evil], [Protection from Madness], [Pure Mind], [Blessing]!
Klein felt all sorts of enhancements begin to work, making him incomparably more powerful. At the same time, the space around the lich distorted, a hole appeared in it, into which multiple tentacles began to crawl, writhing and twitching in all directions.
The cats scattered to the sides with loud, desperate meows, and the tentacles forcefully pushed the eye of an unknown creature through the hole in reality. His iris had a color that could not exist in the world, and his pupil violated the laws of geometry, being voluminous and flat, it looped into itself, having the shape of a star with an inconsistent number of vertices.
Klein felt how the mere presence of this creature's eyes was beginning to drive him crazy, despite all the enhancements applied. My head swam and ached, and multiple visions appeared and disappeared before my eyes. Arthur forcefully turned the young man aside, shouting to him:
- Don't look!
And Klein willingly obeyed. He felt that just the observation of this guest from other worlds was life-threatening. He heard the voice of this creature. Simultaneously male and female, adult and childish. Goosebumps appeared on the young man's skin. This is what a creature could say, trying to seem human, but not fully understanding what a person is:
- WhO dIsTuRbEd My PeAcE? – The voice pierced the guy’s mind, preventing him from perceiving words.
- Hello, Maliz. It's me. Long time no see.
- A. AsKeLtAk. WhY dId YoU cAlL tO mE?
- Our old friend Arthur came to me, and I thought that you would be glad to see him.
- M? wHo Is ThIs? ThE fAmIlIaR sHaPe Of FlEsH. hAvE wE mEeTeD bEfOrE?
- Oh, Malis, you still haven’t learned to distinguish people?
- ThEy ArE aLl ThE sAmE. wOrRiEd CrEaTiOnS. eVeRyOnE hAs TwO lEgS, tWo HaNdS. jUsT oNe HeAd! HoW tO dIfFeReNtIaTe ThEm At AlL?!
- Okay, okay, I shouldn’t have called you, okay, go away, you’re scaring my dear guests. Get out, get out of my house!
The lich began to wave his arms, expelling the entity back, ignoring its indignant cries. When the monster was gone, Arthur, clutching the summoned divine weapon, said in an icy tone:
- I view this as a deliberate attack on me and my student. - You broke the contract and you will pay for it!
Askeltak looked at the man. He put the tea on the table and stood up from his chair for the first time during the conversation. The atmosphere changed, the lich dropped all his antics and jokes, becoming serious. With a wave of his hand, he exchanged his amusing robe for a magical robe that radiated a monstrous level of mana. He met the gaze of the enraged paladin without fear, and spoke just as deathly coldly, and snow formed in the air, falling onto the floor of the house.
- YES? FINE. BUT WHAT WILL YOU DO TO ME, MORTAL? YOU ARE SAYING AS IF WE NEED THIS AGREEMENT AND YOU CAN SOMETHING CONTAIN ME OR THREATEN ME WITH SOMETHING. WHAT WILL YOU DO TO ME, MAN? YOU ARE ALONE AND WEAK. THERE ARE ALMOST NO YOUR COMrades LEFT, AND THEY ARE NOT HERE. WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME WHEN YOU KILLED YOUR OWN COMRADE?
In the silence that hung, one could almost hear the countdown of the stopwatch, measuring the time until the mortal battle of two irreconcilable enemies. Countdown to the last moments of the city's life. He reached the last second and his opponents tightened their grip on their weapons.
And Arthur looked down. He dispelled power-ups and divine weapons. The stopwatch stopped running. The old paladin slouched, having lost all strength. He had aged twenty years, becoming similar in appearance to his eighty-six years. The former aura of power and health disappeared without a trace. He turned towards the exit and said in a weak voice:
- Let's leave, Klein. You will never come here again.
- IT'S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE, MORTAL. KLEIN IS NOW MY STUDENT. HE WILL COME HERE WHENEVER I WISH.
Arthur became even smaller and said barely audibly:
-...Come on, my boy... Let's go home...